Coma
by Tsuma-chan
Summary: The teacher had been pale as a sheet when she had picked Yumi out of class, and told her there had been an accident. Sachiko x Yumi


A/N My fifteenth fanfiction! I can't breathe!

Would you please try not to kill me after this one? It was a thought from a way to long hot bath and I profusely apologize… Well, sort'a ;)

Let me point out in advance: Everybody with some degree of English vocabulary; this is not supposed to be a Russian manual on how to drive stick! Everybody with no English vocabulary what so ever: THIS IS PERFECT ENGLISH!

Now then, on with the show. Please welcome, Yumi and Sachiko in;

**Coma**

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" The man almost had his umbrella torn from his hands as Yumi ran into him.

She didn't turn, in fact she didn't even notice neither the bump nor the yell. She didn't notice her ragged breathing from the running either as she tried to croak Sachiko's name to the woman at the reception. But the woman understood, she was used to people coming in like that. People in a panic, people with fright so palpable it sometimes made you want to scream.

Yumi was told where to go and before the woman was finished with her "please, don't run." Yumi was long gone.

The seconds in the elevator were the longest in her life, scenarios were running amok in her mind and she had no way of calming them. As she came out of the elevator she desperately sought left and right, and to her relief spotted Sayako down one of the corridors.

Her heart raced at an alarming rate. The tunnel vision made sure she didn't see the other operating rooms, the nurse station, anything at all as she bolted for, and into Sayako.

"Where is she!?", "How is she!?", "What happened!?", "Is she okay!?", the question rained down on Sayako faster than she could possibly answer any of them. The panic in Yumi hadn't diminished one bit but rather sought new hights, by seeing the tears on Sayako.

"Yumi..." But getting nowhere Sayako raised her voice. "Yumi!?"

Yumi stood breathing deep, almost wheezing from the long run. Having had no luck seeing a taxi as she came out the station, she had simply sprinted the entire way giving little or no attention to her body's cries for air.

"She's… They are operating now." Sayako looked at the terror in Yumi's eyes, and refrained from telling the girl, that they had already been at it almost four hours.

"Is she okay!? Sayako-sama! Is she okay!?" Yumi was pleading with her, as if she, Sayako, could make it better by listening to the words as please, please.

Yumi was desperately crying and simply sank to her knees then and there as Sayako's "I don't know" reached her ears. She buried her head in her hands and let her frustration out in great anguished sobs.

Sayako sat next to the girl and tried as best she could, to soothe some of the pain by the simple act of pulling Yumi in and letting her cling to her while she let her whispered cries of "Onee-sama, Onee-sama." Out again and again.

The teacher had been pale as a sheet when she had picked Yumi out of class, and told her there had been an accident. That she really didn't know anything other than Sachiko had been involved. That the driver of the vehicle had lost control and was dead, and that she was now in critical condition. Yumi had left before she had heard anything else.

The wait was terrible. Minutes ate hours at such a slow pace, that it felt as if lifetimes could fit nice and snug side by side in-between.

As people heard and found out, the corridor began to fill. Rei and Yoshino were the next to show, Touko came, then Shimako and last Noriko who profusely apologized for having been caught in trafic. Sachiko's personal maid had shown and all now waited anxiously for news from the operating room.

After nine hours of surgery a tired, sweaty surgeon came and took Sayako aside. Yumi bolted from her seat and ran with them. Sayako seemed to think for a second, but seeing the set face on Yumi she let her hear, she nodded once to the surgeon to let him know it was okay and he told the grisly news.

She was stable. They had repaired most of the nerve and tissue damage, but it was very unlikely the Sachiko would ever walk again. At this Yumi hid her head again and simply sank. Unfortunately this was in sight of the rest of the group and was taken the worst possible way.

The surgeon continued his horrid tale and told of the many bones in both upper and lower body that had either broken or been crushed, of the internal damage resulting in a collapsed lung and rupture of both spleen and liver.

"She is very, very lucky to be alive Mrs. Osagawara, and she is not out of the woods yet. The next 24 hours are critical, but aside from a very short attempt of awakening tomorrow, we will try and keep her in medical coma for a bit, at least to give her organs some time to recuperate. The bones will heal slower of cause but... She is in a respirator, so expect to see some tubes, this is not as bad as it can appear… Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm very tired.

Sayako was pale and shaken as the surgeon left, and it took her a moment to gather her wits and bend to gather the distraught Yumi. For a bit they simply clung to each other. In this Sayako was very happy for Yumi's presence, she wasn't sure how she would have ever handled this alone. Tooru, her husband and Sachiko's father was on business abroad but was on the next flight back.

As they came back they found a whole group of girls in some semblance of hysterical distress and disarray. And it took Sayako a few repetitions to assure everyone that Sachiko was in fact still alive. As for her injuries, she told it as it was. She saw no reason to hide anything from these girls, these were Sachiko's friends and cared enough for her to be here, they deserved as much.

These were terrible, frightful days. Yumi refused adamantly to leave Sachiko's side for anything, even eating and she took her meals by her side. She slept uncomfortably in a chair by her side with her hand gently holding Sachiko's. She refused school and made quite a fuss when one time her mother tried to bring her home, even, or just, for one night. She did whatever she could to stand by and help the nurses when they had to handle Sachiko in one way or the other.

The stress was getting to everyone. Nobody knew how Sachiko would wake up from her coma; if residual memory loss went back a little or a long time, or maybe not at all. If disabilities caused by loss of oxygen to the brain would cause Sachiko, to no longer be the young woman of striking intellect she had been. Nobody was more afraid than Yumi and many a night were nights of tears and prayers.

It took two weeks before the doctors decided to give it a go. The respirator was still breathing for her, so they wouldn't be able to talk to her, they were told to expect some damage…

The awakening and the examinations that followed were a pain, but necessary, and always there was Yumi to hold her hand, caress her cheek or put small pieces of ice in her mouth to gently soothe her dry mouth. The pain was unbearable, but Yumi was there with encouraging words and gentle touches.

Then finally they took the respirator away and she spoke in croaks and whispers and always Yumi was there to listen and laugh and tell tales. When she woke at night from the pain she found Yumi there, holding her hand and getting her whatever she could want or wish.

Through it all Yumi helped and stood by and in the end Yumi knew her more intimately than she would have ever thought possible. By small words and gestures Yumi knew what she needed and craved and never was there a sour face or cringe that told of anything other than wanting to help.

Sachiko was finally transferred to an expensive private hospital, for last stage treatment and rehabilitation, and so was Yumi, nobody even tried to tell her otherwise, it would have been a futile act and everyone knew.

A month went by and then two. The staff had long since given up trying to get the girl to leave Sachiko's side and little by little Yumi took over most of the dealings needed done to her when not in treatment sessions.

But slowly bones heal and tissue mend and one day Sachiko was gently lifted into a wheelchair so that Yumi could take her for a stroll. It was a beautiful day in early autumn and the cherry trees were gently raining their first blossoms.

They stopped by a bench in the park adjacent to the hospital. Sachiko pleaded for a break and this place was as beautiful as any. The pleasurable sighs from Sachiko spoke of her long confinement inside.

"Yumi?" Sachiko took Yumi's hand and looked her in the eyes.

"Yes, Onee-sama?" Yumi gave her a wonderful smile; she was probably enjoying the excursion just as much as Sachiko. Then again, it really was a wonderful day and it was hard not to.

"You need to get back in school Yumi. You will already be behind now. If you don't go you will have to do this year all over." There was a hint of sadness in Sachiko's voice. Clearly she was making a decision of reason and not one of her own wishes and wants.

"But, Onee-sama…" Yumi made big eyes, trying to plead with the unspoken in Sachiko. Yumi had no wishes to leave Sachiko's side. Even though she had yearnings for school and her Yamayurikai work, it mattered little compared to this.

"I think it's safe to say that I'm out of the woods by now Yumi." She smiled gently, lovingly. She knew well by now that Yumi wasn't just a figure by her side out of duty. She was here for her, Sachiko, it was simple.

Yumi looked rather uncertain, but her "Yes, Onee-sama." Was still a given and she began her classes again. Still, every day she came straight from school, bringing tall tales of the rest of the Yamiyurikai and a fresh wind from the outside. But she never once considered going home to sleep.

The rehab was excruciating, every day painful exercises that would strengthen muscles, tissue and nerves. Every day an agonizing repetitious routine that would have been unbearable had it not been for the cheering on from Yumi's ever smiling face and her unbeatable happy personality.

The evenings of dawdling talks of hopes and dreams and memoirs and laughs where probably more rehabilitating for Sachiko than anything any doctor or physician could have prescribed. But still…

Still despair could show it's ugly head. The loss of ones legs and the daily trips through the wringer of hurt in one horrible pain-contraption after the other was not easy, even for the strongest of minds. And one evening when Yumi felt her words of soothing simply wasn't enough, she did what came natural to her, she climbed in bed and took her in her arms. There was no agenda in this other than the act of comforting.

It was the first full nights sleep Sachiko had since the accident.

Sachiko was a full paraplegic. The accident had crushed several vertebrae and in the act cut nerves to her lower body. By modern medicine there was no way of rectifying the damage, even with the Ogasawara fortune as backing, and so Sachiko steeled her mind for a life in a wheelchair.

But at night the steel softened and always the words of calming came from Yumi as she climbed in bed and took her in her arms. And as it were, one night, one kissed the other. It was but a brush, a graze, a light touch that let to two and three and so on and so forth.

The smiles and small looks were soon accompanied by blushes, the confidential touches by bashful eyes, and one night in October when their small world had gone to bed;

"I love you." Yumi held Sachiko's surprised sapphire globes for just a moment before she rather shyly looked down and put her head to rest on Sachiko's chest.

"My!" Sachiko's heart went into overdrive, all to the smiles of Yumi with an ear on her chest.

"You really don't have to say anything, Onee-sama. I already received an answer." And the grin on her face as she pulled Sachiko in for sleep was one pure and joyful.

Sachiko was released in early December and two hours later Yumi was knocking on the door to the Ogasawara Mansion with a suitcase under her arm. The reaction from Sayako was a smile and a humorous "What took you so long?"

Sayako told her maid to ready a proper room, not guest quarters. Which, all in all, really wasn't necessary, everybody soon realized, that wherever Sachiko went or were, Yumi was sure to be right there with her.

Private tutors were hired to bring Sachiko up to speed. She would never attend the last few months at Lillian, the old buildings simply wasn't prepared for a girl in a wheelchair, but the new buildings at Lillian Uni had no such problems, and she was adamant about being ready for the entry tests.

Every hour of every day the girls were apart, one would think about the other. The affirmation of love long since given, it was hard for everybody not to notice the romance flourishing.

"You two are in love." Sayako simply stated one night as she came visiting in Sachiko's chambers. The girls had sat in bed leaned against the bedhead, simply talking, when she came in. She had sat conversing amiable for a bit before her sudden statement.

"Yes." Yumi blushed a deep red but still reached for Sachiko's hand and laced fingers.

"Yes, mother. I feel almost bad saying this, but I think the best thing that ever happened to me, was getting into that car with Kashiwagi."

//-----------------//

Thank you for reading. Please tell me your thoughts in a comment and… and please don't stalk me and kill me in my sleep… I would appreciate it… please…


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